Child Development of Infant Toy Essay

We were given the assignment to create toy for a baby from things available in a home. I chose to create a toy for babies in the late infancy stage. My toys are â€Å"Noise shakers†. I took three water bottles, took off their wrappers, and in each one I added different things to create different sounds. In one bottle I put bells, in another bottle I put rice, and then in my 3rd bottle I added colorful craft beads. I filled all three bottles half way so there was room for the objects to move freely and create their different sounds. I then used something called Gorilla glue to attach the bottle caps. After that I covered the cap with two layers of colorful duct tape, so that it was extra secure, as well as adding color to the cap area. The age for this toy is 12 to 36 months. It falls in Piaget’s sensorimotor stage and the early part of the preoperational stage. Although this toy would not be for under 12 months or above 36 months. During the sensorimotor stage between 12 and 18 months â€Å"infants develop new behaviors that allow them to achieve their goals. Although the child still repeats actions over and over, now he does it with a planned variation to see what happened when I do this!† (P, 235/Levine). For example, the child will think, â€Å"when I shake this bottle I hear the sound†. This toy will stimulate the child’s senses; when the baby shakes it, it makes a sound. Also, these bottles have a soft but bumpy texture to the touch. This is important, because infants/young children take in information from their sense. This toy will encourage their growth of symbolic activity. When shaking these bottles, the young child will pretend they are different musical instruments; this is symbolic because they use one object to represent another. Piaget states that â€Å"During the Cognitive Development Theory stage 6 (18 months to 2 years) the beginning of thought, children seem to think out situations more internally, before they act.† (p.94/ Crain). The developmental theory that informed the design of this toy falls under Piaget’s Cognitive- Developmental Theory, and the Development of the Senses, along with increased sensor-motor intelligence. When the baby shakes each bottle it gives a different sound, the child will shake one and hear bells, then shake the bottle containing rice and get that sound. They learn their actions get different results. The child develops their own schemes due to their own curiosity. Citation: Child Development: An Active Learning Experience/ Levine, Laura/ Sage publishing/ 2011 Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications/ Crain, William/ 2nd Edition/ 1985 Photo of Toy: